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life is something we doodlee-doo. . . at home , at school, out in the worldWed, 05 Aug 2015 22:01:07 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.13Monarch Butterfly Resources and Art for Kids: Books for Kids GIVEAWAYhttp://waddleeahchaa.com/2015/04/01/monarch-butterfly-resources-and-art-for-kids-books-for-kids-giveaway/
http://waddleeahchaa.com/2015/04/01/monarch-butterfly-resources-and-art-for-kids-books-for-kids-giveaway/#commentsWed, 01 Apr 2015 16:33:26 +0000http://waddleeahchaa.com/?p=16082

Week at a Glance:

Books for Kids GIVEAWAY: The Seeds of the Milkweed

Written & Illustrated by The Second Grade Students of East End Elementary

Monarch Butterfly Resources

Monarch Butterfly Art by Kids

DIY Backyard Butterfly House made with Window Screens

Butterfly Gardening with Children

Books for Kids GIVEAWAY: The Seeds of the Milkweed

Written & Illustrated by The Second Grade Students of East End Elementary

Why we love this book:

This our third week focusing on butterflies, butterfly gardening and specifically monarch butterflies. Monarch butterflies migrate through the Texas Hill Country and the South Texas Central area where we live. Hence, we have read books on monarchs, watched documentaries on monarchs, attended lectures on monarchs and have even planted our very own monarch butterfly garden. With all of this in mind, I was very excited to find a book about monarch butterflies and the milkweed plant actually written and illustrated by second grade students. It is a delightful science book written in a similar pattern to This is the House That Jack Built.

Unfortunately, I found this book at a Scholastic Book Fair and have not found it available new online. So if you are the winner of this cute science book written for children by children, you will have snagged a hard to find collectable! This week we will specifically focus on monarch butterflies.

Monarch Butterfly Art

Oil Pastel Art – Science Project

Supplies

We typically don’t use color sheets but I found an authentic outline of a monarch butterfly from Art Hub for Kids. We compared the color sheet to real pictures of monarchs. The children had the choice to draw their own butterfly or use the printed outline. All three children, ages 11, 8 and 6, wanted to use the printed color sheet.

Step 1: Color Wings Yellow & Orange

Art Hub for Kids shared the technique of first coloring the inner wings yellow and then adding orange on top.

This layering of colors added a glow to the wings. The kids were quite impressed with the authentic look.

Step 2: Color Border Around the Butterfly

Yes, we skipped coloring the black on purpose!

Monarch Oil Pastel Art, age 6

Step 3: Color the Wings Black

Color the black of the outer wings and outline the veins last to avoid smearing the black color all over the picture!

I like doing the same projects across a wide age range. Above, our kindergarten friend went bold with the black oil pastel.

MacGyver, age 11, took a different approach outlining each of the monarch’s dots with his black oil pastel.

Step 4: Mount Monarch Art on Black Construction Paper

The kids cutout their monarch illustrations, including their blue borders.

Monarch Oil Pastel Art, kindergarten, age 6

Next, they used a paint brush to apply a layer of Mod Podge onto their black construction paper creating a layer of adhesive for mounting.

Monarch Oil Pastel Art, age 8

After mounting their butterflies, they each added a label for their male or female monarch butterflies.

Female monarch butterflies have thick black veining.

Monarch Oil Pastel Art, age 11

Male monarch butterflies have thinner black veining and a black dot on each of their lower wings.

Last, the children applied a layer of Mod Podge over their oil pastel art to project it from smearing.

The top layer of Mod Podge also deepened the color and added a nice satin shine.

Monarch Butterfly Resources

Flight of the Butterflies

Flight of the Butterfliestells two stories. The movie follows the monarchs’, mysterious migration to and from Mexico. The journey of the monarch integrates the life cycle of the butterfly. Glorious up-close filming of the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly emerging with it’s amazing wings.

As a parent and a teacher, the part of the film I found most inspiring was the second part of the monarch story, the story of scientist Dr. Fred Urquhart. As a young boy, Fred spent his summers chasing the monarch butterflies but in the winter they disappeared. He began to wonder where they went every winter. The quest to solve this mystery continued throughout his life. Dr. Urquhart and his wife Norah recruited “citizen scientist” to tag monarch butterflies. In 1975, Kenneth C. Brugger and his wife Catalina Trail found the monarchs in their winter refuge on a mountaintop in Michoacán, Mexico. Dr. Urquhart’s passion and tagging solved the mystery of the monarchs’ amazing migration.

Books for Kids GIVEAWAY: The Seeds of the Milkweed

Written & Illustrated by The Second Grade Students of East End Elementary

Why we love this book:

My children have been fascinated with butterflies for quite a few years now. They are especially interested in monarch butterflies and their migration through the Texas Hill Country and the South Texas Central area where we live. We have read books on monarchs, watched documentaries on monarchs, attended lectures on monarchs and have even planted our very own monarch butterfly garden. With all of this in mind, I was very excited to find a book about monarch butterflies and the milkweed plant written and illustrated by second grade students. It is a delightful science book written in a similar pattern to This is the House That Jack Built.

Unfortunately, I found this book at a Scholastic Book Fair and have not found it available new online. So if you are the winner of this cute science book written for children by children, you will have snagged a hard to find collectable! Come back over the next few weeks for more activities and chances to win.

Planting a Butterfly Garden with Kids

Host and Nectar Plants

If you want an abundance of butterflies in your butterfly garden, you need to plant both host plants and nectar plants.

Host Plants provide a place for caterpillars to lay their eggs and a food source for the caterpillars.

Let’s face it, most of us DO NOT LIKE the caterpillars munching up our beloved plants. But if you don’t have host plants you will have less butterflies. The solution … MacGyver plants host plants for his butterflies and I plant extra plants for me.

Some Easy Butterfly Host Plants:

Dill

Fennel

Lantana

Parsley

Pipevine (Very cool plant and caterpillars! But be prepared the cool caterpillars will mow down your cool plant!)

Rue

Milkweed (*required for monarchs)

Nectar Plants provide a food source for adult butterflies. They also make our gardens beautiful. A win, win for the butterflies and us!

Some Easy Nectar Plants

Creating a Butterfly Habitat

You don’t have to start with an acre garden! Have a go with a simple container garden.

Chose a sunny site for your butterfly garden as most host and nectar plants grow best in sunny areas.

Add rocks to provide a basking zone for the butterflies to regulate their temperature.

Provide a wind break such as a wall, fence or shrub. Butterflies prefer areas sheltered from the wind.

Add a water puddle dish or a birdbath for the butterflies to drink.

You can also add fruit, especially over ripe bananas.

Planting a Monarch Butterfly Garden

Queen Butterfly – often confused with a monarch but has white dots on wings.

Monarch butterfly Numbers are on the Decline

One reason for the monarch decline is that native milkweeds are also on the decline. Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed. Milkweed is the ONLY host plant on which the monarch butterfly lays her eggs.

Native Milkweed Host Plants

You may find it hard to purchase native milkweeds to your area as some consider them more of a weed. We purchased tropical milkweed for our monarch garden as recommended by our local natural gardening nursery. However, we have learned that tropical milkweed may not be the best choice for monarch butterflies as it flowers late into the fall and winter, negatively prolonging the monarch’s migration pattern. We also learned that it is important to purchase milkweed that has NOT been grown with pesticides. The pesticides will continue to linger in the milkweed, killing the caterpillars as they eat the plant.

We are finding it hard to locate native milkweed in our area. We have planted native seeds, hoping to begin native perennials in our garden.

Selecting and Finding Milkweed Native to Your Area

Monarch Joint Venture provides information on monarchs, their migration and tips for planting a monarch garden.

www.plantmilkweed.org lists milkweed species native to your area and provides links to finding seeds and plants in your area.

All the credit for this post goes to my son, MacGyver! He is my science inspiration and teacher.

Many of you have viewed MacGyver’s backyard science center where he cares for and observes all of his creepy critters.

A key component to MacGyver’s science center are his pocket field guide books.

MacGyver doesn’t just collect creatures. He actually cares for them, creating habitats and feeding them an appropriate diet.

Butterflies and Moths a Golden Guide

This is where the field guide research seriously began for MacGyver. He has been fascinated by creepy critters since he was a wee little guy. All of our family and friends know he is a nature boy. Accordingly, several years ago Grandma gave him his first little Golden Guide. The corners of the book show that is well used and much loved.

If he’s trying to attract a particular butterfly, he researches what plants the caterpillar eats or where the butterfly lays its eggs and then purchases that particular plant and adds it to his butterfly garden.

As we wonder and explore our world, you’ll find MacGyver with one or two or three of his field guide books in-hand. This fall when we return to the beach for our annual beach retreat, we’ll take along a new sea life field guide book to aid in our explorations.

You can find quite a variety of field guides so I encourage you to pick one on a topic that interest your child. There are small detailed pictures and little bits of important information. I suggest the pocket sized versions so they can be easily be used on the go! These are a wonderful addition to the classroom or homeschool!

Spotlight on MacGyver’s Backyard Science Center. The learning that takes place in this area is exhilarating!

Meet my son MacGyver. His nickname is self explanatory and very fitting. MacGyver makes something out of nothing every single day of his life. When he’s not lost in a whirlwind of creative mess, he’s out exploring the great outdoors in search of creepy crawly critters. Next, comes the whirlwind of creating an observation habitat for each beloved critter. No worries, he observes them, takes care of them and then releases them.

We had one little problem. His room was actually becoming a real big problem. (At least for Mommy.) MacGyver was literally turning his room into his own version of the Salamander Room. He was raising caterpillars, housing two little garter snakes and I can’t even begin to count the variety of insects in plastic recycle containers. (Yes, he was constantly raiding our recycle bin searching for homes for his critters.) His room and our yard looked like a junkyard.

Then Louie entered MacGyver’s life. Our two neighbor boys caught Louie. They quickly alerted MacGyver. After all, MacGyver is the creepy crawly expert! MacGyver determined Louie’s back legs were paralyzed. Sure enough something was wrong with his back legs. MacGyver decided he HAD to care for Louie or he would parish. That did it. It was time for Louie and the little mini zoo to move out of our house!

Easy DIY Backyard Science Center

As a family we designed a backyard science center for MacGyver’s birthday. This was his birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy.

SAMLA Box with lids – We purchased small, medium and large plastic containers with lids and poked breathing holes in each lid.

MARIUS stools ($5.99 ea.) – We wanted a place for MacGyver and his friends to sit, work and observe. The stools double as little tables when necessary.

Last we needed an observation table. I remembered that the former owners of our home had left a wooden box in the storage shed. We dug it out. It was gross and the bottom was rotten. Daddy and MacGyver cleaned it up, nailed on a few new boards to replace the rotten bottom and added casters, making the table movable. The inside of the box provides storage for butterfly houses, a magnifying glass and other equipment not being used.

MacGyver desperately wanted to buy Louie an aquarium. Unfortunately, they were horribly expensive. We made a trip to Goodwill and with unbelievable luck, MacGyver purchased an aquarium with a wire lid for $6.00! MacGyver buys crickets and meal worms for Louie and babies him daily. Louie is so docile and appears to even like MacGyver.

Two giant Hercules beetles were among the first guests in MacGyver’s science center. This is Rhino. MacGyver researched Hercules beetles eat rotting plants. He made them a habitat that included our decaying compost.

Raising caterpillars is an ongoing project for MacGyver. He collects caterpillars, identifies them in his field guide and then feeds them the appropriate plants. Above you can see a caterpillar transforming throughout its life cycle. The caterpillar actually shed its skin and changed into its chrysalis in MacGyver’s hand! Wow, how cool to see mother nature in action! He has several net butterfly houses where the butterflies unfurl their wet wings. After a day or two of dinning on oranges MacGyver releases them.

A Variety of Frogs, Toads and Tadpoles have come and gone from the science center. MacGyver is careful to research and create an appropriate habitat for each.

MacGyver considered this millepede a big jackpot! He did a little research and then designed a special habitat. This one totally cracked me up . . . He included and obstacle course for the millipede’s enjoyment . . .

Millepede Obstacle Course . . . not something you see every day! Millepede goes in the tunnel. Millepede crawls through the tunnel. Millepede crawls out the other end of the tunnel. Off to the sandpit for his next adventure.

Zippy the tiny Spiny Texas Lizard (a baby version of Louie) is MacGyver’s most recent guest. At about two inches, he is adorable. I can’t even believe I’m saying that about a lizard. Look at him. You have to admit he’s darn cute.

Family and friends collect critters for MacGyver. Thanks to a church member, he recently added a baby tarantula to his collection. I’m sure he’ll soon have it crawling on his face. Don’t ask me why!

My goal was to get all of the recycled animal habitats and critters out of our home. Unknowingly, MacGyver’s backyard science center has become a genuine place of exploration and learning. These little critters also give MacGyver “real” reasons for reading and researching. He searches for their photos in his field guide books and researches their habitats and what they eat. He is growing into an excellent scientist.

Week at a Glance:

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY:

Bug Safari by Bon Barner

I Like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown

Bugs, Beetles, and Butterflies by Harriet Ziefert

Why we love these books:

To say my kiddos like bugs is an understatement! Collecting creepy crawly critters and observing them is one of their absolute favorite past times. Bug Safari is a book they act out almost daily. The book is a fun read but what I really like are the bug illustrations and facts in the back of the book. A perfect field guide for little ones (and big ones). The last page includes a diagram of the ant’s abdomen, thorax, head and legs. Bugs, Beetles and Butterflies share simple facts about bugs and also includes an illustrated glossary of the bugs featured in the book. I like Bugs is a fun little early reader.Between the three books, you’ll have a good variety of reading levels. Summer is a great time for creepy critter, bug investigations. Learning disguised as fun! The best!

Insect Watercolor Pencil Art By Children

Let’s Start with a Little Artistic Expression!

Watercolor Pencil Art by MacGyver, age 9

Supplies

Watercolor Pencils – My kiddos like to use watercolor pencils when painting intricate pictures. They can color small spaces with the pencils and then simply paint with water to create a watercolor effect. Give it a try, very cool!

Black Fine Tip Sharpie

Fine Tip Paint Brushes (variety of sizes desirable)

Watercolor Paper or Card-stock

Watercolor Pencil Art by MacGyver, age 9

Step 1: Draw Insect with Sharpie

I know you think I’m crazy for letting my kids use Sharpies. Have no fear, I have modeled the appropriate ways to use Sharpies for special drawing projects. My children use Sharpies all of the time. However, I first modeled and supervised until I felt secure they knew all of the rules. The Sharpies are not readily available. It is an art supply they must request.

My children know they must always have a mat under their paper when drawing with Sharpies.

Sharpies are only used for drawing, not coloring.

Watercolor Pencil Art by Miss Enigma, age 6

Step 2: Color Insect with Watercolor Pencils

Miss Enigma actually used MacGyver’s Insect Field Guide when drawing her butterfly. She wanted it to be an accurate drawing.

Watercolor Pencil Art by MacGyver, age 9

Step 3: Paint Watercolor Pencil with Water

For intricate drawings, you’ll want a fine tip brush.

It is really neat how the pencils turn into watercolor with a little water.

Watercolor Pencil Art by MacGyver, age 9 and Miss Enigma, age 6

I Like Bugs!

If you are doing an Insect Theme Study you must checkout The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins! It is awesome! Jenkins features amazing collage art work of unique and fascinating beetles. I know it sounds weird but this book about bugs is beautiful. You need to see it for yourself. I bet you’ll even learn something as the book is packed with beetle facts.

I Like Bugs illustration by Miss Enigma, age 6

We used The Beetle Book as inspiration for our FREE printable book I Like Bugs. Miss Enigma took this little bug book much more serious than I expected. Look at her forest fire beetle. It is a pretty darn good replica! And I’m not just saying that because I’m her proud Mommy!

He was literally turning his room into a Butterfly Room Habitat full of creepy crawly critters. That was before we helped him create a science exploration center in our backyard. His observations are amazing! I’ll share his little backyard science lab later this week. It’s any easy DIY project with serious learning impact!